In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-226671 (hereinafter referred to as “JP 2005-226671 A”), when a road surface friction coefficient is less than or equal to a predetermined value (when the road has a low μ), deceleration control is performed according to road situations on the execution condition which is ON state of brake pedal 18. In addition, when the road surface friction coefficient is greater than the predetermined value, the deceleration control is performed on the execution condition which is OFF state of an accelerator pedal (claim 1, ABSTRACT, FIG. 2).
In JP 2005-226671 A, the deceleration control includes down shift control in a transmission, reduction control of an engine output, operation control of a power generator, and braking control by a brake (claim 2, [0074]).
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-177442 (hereinafter referred to as “JP 2006-177442 A”), there is disclosed an acceleration and deceleration control device 10 which has a deceleration region and an acceleration region formed in an operation stroke of a single pedal and which controls the acceleration and deceleration of a vehicle by controlling a braking force generator, a driving force generator, and a continuously variable transmission according to an operation amount of the pedal (ABSTRACT).
In a braking and driving distributor 26 in JP 2006-177442 A, for instance, only when deceleration greater than achievable by an engine braking region is needed, just a needed portion may be distributed to a target braking output axis torque (in other words, only when deceleration, which is greater than the deceleration achievable in the engine braking region, is requested, the braking force generator may be operated by a brake manager 50 ([0024])). Alternatively, a target output axis torque may be distributed to the target braking output axis torque in such a manner that the number of revolutions of the engine in a fuel cut region is maintained ([0024]).
As described above, in JP 2005-226671 A, the deceleration control according to road situations includes down shift control in a transmission, reduction control of an engine output, operation control of a power generator, and braking control by a brake (claim 2, [0074)). However, in JP 2005-226671 A, no discussion is provided on such control that has a configuration in which acceleration and deceleration of a vehicle is controlled according to an operation amount of one operating pedal. In addition, there is room for improvement in the manner how the transmission, the engine, the power generator, and the brake are combined for use in the deceleration control.
Although JP 2006-177442 A discloses a configuration in which acceleration and deceleration of a vehicle is controlled according to an operation amount of one operating pedal, there is room for improvement in combination of various types of brake.